1.1 The Norman Conquest Flashcards
Who came and why?
Norman invaders came to take control of England
How did England’s relationship with the wider world affect their decision to come?
Norman, Danish and Saxon rulers all claimed the right to rule England
What was their impact?
They caused considerable change in the language, culture, economics and politics of England
What were their experiences and actions?
- They took total military, political and economic control of the country
- They experienced continual resistance to their rule and dealt with it harshly
What caused the Norman invasion?
- During Edward’s reign a struggle developed between his Norman friends and the Anglo-Danish nobles such as the powerful Godwin family
- When Edward died without a son to succeed him, both Harold Godwinson and William of Normandy claimed the English throne
What event began the Norman invasion?
- The Battle of Hastings 1066 marked the start of the Norman invasion and conquest of England
- William, Duke of Normandy, landed with an army, as well as followers from Brittany, Flanders and other parts of his kingdom, many of whom ended up settling in England
How did the Normans change England?
- William consolidated the feudal system that was already developing before 1066
- He seized the land from Anglo-Danish lords and gave it to his Norman lords
- Normans took control of the tax and justice systems, although they did not change much
- William took control of the Church, replacing Anglo-Danish bishops with Norman ones
- He set up the Domesday survey in 1085 to record who owned land, what it was worth and who lived in it
- Normans abolished slavery after the Domesday survey, which had shown that about 10% of the people were slaves
- They introduced the system of surnames to show people’s occupation or where they had migrated from
- They introduced a new language, a dialect of Old French
Example of resistance to the Norman rule
- Resistance to Norman colonial rule continued in England, Scotland and Wales for many years
- Some of the Anglo-Danish nobles joined an unsuccessful invasion of England led by King Sweyn of Denmark in 1069
- English resistance was sometimes secretive for example the ‘green men’ who hid in villages and forests and tried to kill Norman officials
What is murdrum?
A special law dating from the time of the Danes which stated that if a Norman was assassinated, a collective fine was imposed on all those living in the area unless the murderer was caught within five days
Why was murdrum introduced?
To protect the Normans from Anglo-Danish hostility that had become too dangerous
How did William the conqueror deal with rebellions against his rule?
- King William was forced to suppress resistance up and down the country, and he laid to waste to much of northern England in order to end the constant rebellions
- They also reintroduced murdrum, which would impose a collective fine, if a Norman was assassinated, on all those living in the area unless the murderer was caught within five days
How did William convince nobles to join his invasion force?
- He promised them land and wealth if they joined his invasion force
- He gave them land that once belonged to the Anglo-Danish Lords, making them the major landholders in England
What was the outcome of the Battle of Hastings?
William defeated Harold at Hastings and conquered the whole of England in the next few years
